A 2-4 record heading into the second semester might give the indication this version of the Warrenton girls basketball is no different than the struggling programs of recent years. For the most part, …
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A 2-4 record heading into the second semester might give the indication this version of the Warrenton girls basketball is no different than the struggling programs of recent years. For the most part, coach Barb Woodruff would argue against that. In some ways, however, she might agree. She feels the Warriors’ record is not indicative of how talented they are, but she is still dealing with the frustration of inconsistent play, which has been an issue for several seasons now. “I truly believe we should be 5-1 at this point,” said Woodruff. Unlike in recent history, Warrenton has a pair of reliable scoring threats. Seniors Dana Heggemann is averaging about 14 points per game, while classmate Sarah Heyne is right behind her at 13 points a contest. But that alone isn’t resulting in wins, being negated by turnovers and errant decision-making in the final moments.The Warriors held late leads in all but one of their losses. “Our four losses came down to executing and taking care of the ball,” said Woodruff. “We were ahead of Howell North and Granite City, and now with the Lawson game, that’s three games we let get away from us.” Woodruff says it’s been awhile since she has had a scoring tandem like Heggemann and Heyne, but she needs the three through five spots in the roster to kick in offensively as well. “I need that extra third scorer,” asserted Woodruff. “We need someone else to knock down a few shots here and there so it’s not all on Dana and Sarah.” She anticipates that could be either Keene or freshman Hannah Sutton. Woodruff also says senior Renae Boedeker as an option. “We’re not consistent with the three, four and five spots,” said Woodruff. Woodruff has also had to witness her concerns about rebounding play out in several games. “I was worried coming in that we wouldn’t have enough intensity rebounding,” said Woodruff. “Hopefully in the second half of the season we can be more aggressive. We’ve also got to cut down on our turnovers and stop giving our opponents so many extra chances.” She would like the Warriors’ average of 22 turnovers drop below 15 per game. “There are times when we play well, but there are other times when we are lackadaisical with the ball and we make the wrong pass,” said Woodruff. “I think it’s a lack of focus.” Woodruff says her team awaits two challenging matchups against St. Charles and state-ranked Howell Central on back-to-back nights. “Hopefully we can string together two strong performances,” said Woodruff. “I believe we’ve got the capacity to be a really good team, but we’ve got to get all five people working together for a full 32 minutes.”